“God Created All Things Which Are in Heaven and in the Earth”

Brant Gardner

Like Paul, Ammon equates Yahweh with the pagan deity. Despite the real differences, the important resemblance is that Yahweh occupies the same place in the conceptual universe. Lamoni was probably a polytheist with his Great Spirit considered to be the highest ranking of the multiple gods.

Lamoni also expresses bewilderment about “the heavens.” This must be seen as a comment on Ammon’s religious terminology, not our understanding of “the heavens” as the night sky. Ammon apparently thought of heaven as a multiple or layered (hence, plural) place, not simply as a place where Yahweh resides.

Second Witness: Analytical & Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 4

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